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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Monday, September 08, 2008
Damn…looks like Challenger will just stay home and tear the flesh off some unsuspecting sea otters.
This Thursday, all Major League Baseball teams will take the field wearing specially designed “Stars and Stripes” caps, part of the league’s Welcome Back Veterans initiative. (Barring rainouts, the Yankees and Mets won’t take part, as they’re off that day.) Following the games, the caps will be auctioned to raise money for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
There’s nothing wrong with helping veterans — no matter how you feel about America’s current wars, those returning from battle are in undeniable need of help — but doing so on September 11 turns a simple charity event into a troubling political statement. In past years, New York’s teams donned NYPD and FDNY caps to remember the 2,974 people who died that day (most of them in fact ordinary citizens who happened to be at the World Trade Center, not uniformed personnel), and call attention to the ongoing needs of first responders. By choosing instead to make the day about the wars that the U.S launched in the wake of 9/11, baseball is casting its lot with those who say the proper response to tragedy is to retaliate — and delivering a slap in the face to 9/11 family groups like Peaceful Tomorrows that are working to use the shared grief of victims of war and terror to build bridges to international understanding.
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Not being there, what I want to know is this:
What were they doing when they shook hands? Were they looking eachother in the eye? Did each try to check out the other guy's palm before shaking? Di they mumble under eachother's breath when shaking..."mumble..mumble nice to meet you mumble mumble..."
Did they sit neat eachother? Did they ever exchange words afetrwards?
I feel like there should be a documentary about this. Observing primates in their natural habitat. Just have somebody follow them around with a camera, and get the guy from the Geico commercials to narrate it in his distinct british accent (I always have a feeling I should know who he is, but have no idea). It would be awesome.
If you package it as a reality-tv show you could definately sell it to the general public...
That would be Jake Wood. He is in the Eastenders.
Well, it'd be a reasonable oversight.
It's the flaming arrows.
I don't know. Rumor had it, though, that it was somebody else (HCO might be able to shed some light on this). (And that woman didn't look like I remember Sleepover Girl's photo looking.)
Wonder if I can get it on my business card.
Well, if it wasn't, I hope you didn't offer her your condolences on the passing of her smackhead boyfriend. That might've been a little awkward.
Come on, David--become the Mild Mannered, Personable Ogre. You know you want to.
Biden was better on the issues at the debate. Unfortunately for him, most Americans likely had much of the stuff go right over their heads.
Most Dems thot Biden was much better in the debate. Most GOPers liked Palin better. Gee whadda sir-prize. Undecideds gave small edge to Joe.
Palin came across better than many thought, and may have "come across" to some voters as a decent GOP VP pick, thus helping the base to still go out and vote.
The economy going worse this week helps Obama, despite he and McCain being on virtually the same side, because McCain is closer to Bush.
my take as of now is ---
McCain is dead unless some major MAJOR thang comes up. You can't win when "your" side has been in charge and things are going as poorly as they are now. Look for Pres Obama and 58-ish Senate seats and a clear majority in the House. An election night surprise based on latent racism or some such ain't gonna happen; thankfully most of thre US is past that. If anything, young black voters are going to show up in droves and vote 97% Dem, which some pollsters aren't accounting for yet.
2 years from now, when chickens hatch and econ going very poorly, Dems get blame and GOP has a chance to take back the House (think 1982).
--
I still think we oughta have a BTF vote thread to record those who actually went to the polls on Nov 4. I suspect Obama's margin on BTF is higher than any state except D.C.
(yes, I know it isn't a state....)
As for me "baiting," I never say anything that I don't mean, unless I explicitly label it as "for the sake of argument" or the like.
I'd also expect that the Libertarian component will be well above that which they'll receive in any state in the union.
You may have a point there. A lot of those who self-identify as libertarians have been a bit more cautious with their declarations of who they're voting for, as well as whether or not they'll be engaging in strategic voting in the toss-up states.
Incidentally, if you think you've got it tough in deciding who to vote for, you should try deciding in Canada, where we've got five major parties to choose from (all likely to pull at least 5% of the popular vote, and four likely to be above 10%), before we even get to the various fringe parties. It's even worse for me in that the party I prefer is being headed up by someone who's ability to lead is questionable (although he would make a great person for policy).
It might be ear syphilis...you should be more careful about what you let people stick in your head...or at least make them wear protection...
Better, but not good. Other than that, your post is a fair assessment, I think.
Palin came across better than many thought, and may have "come across" to some voters as a decent GOP VP pick, thus helping the base to still go out and vote.
I think the polls showed more than a small edge to Biden, but that is quibbling. I think the main positive is that it stopped the Palin bleeding. She was becomming a joke, and dominating the headlines. Now, McCain can try to push his campaign forward. I don't think he will be able to do that. The economy issue will dominate the headlines and there is not enough time.
I think was Republicans can hope for is 1) Keeping at least 40 seats in the Senate (likely) and 2) a 2010 return to the house as the economy still stinks.
That would be Jake Wood. He is in the* Eastenders**.
Damn, I knew my ignorance of bbc eavning soaps would come back to haunt me one day...
BTW, I forgot to mention: He absolutely must talk in a whisper. Like he's trying to "not disturb the wildlife". Goldmine.
*The "the" is superfluous there btw.
**And the second "E" in EastEnders is usually capitalized. Still one word though...
Not that I don't agree with you about her being a joke, but do you really think that SNL is going to do much to change people's impressions of her? Those who thought she was a joke before will only have that opinion reinforced, and those who supported her will largely just react as if the dirty, dirty mainstream media is picking on he again, how dare they.
These hits are largely coming from those of us who don't like her circulating the video to our friends who also don't like her.
Oh, wait. They are.
So, a Republican majority then?
Fey's success mocking her is really just superfluous at this point- Palin does a good enough job embarrassing herself with the excessive, calculated winks, overuse of the word maverick, and torturing of the English language. Fey wasn't necessary to draw attention to these things. She came across like a teenager. I'm not sure how the McCain campaign would be going had he selected another candidate, but at least it would not have devolved into a circus. You can only blame the media so much- what else are they supposed to do when confronted with such a woefully underqualified and unprepared candidate? Everyone that called McCain shrewd and Mavericky during the Palin honeymoon is now having serious doubts about his capacity for sound political judgment...
Maybe, but I can tick off the names of about 20 guys who I am quite sure will not vote for Obama. I would like to see a vote count as well on Nov 4.
I think a lot of the rest of what you said is on the money.
Letter Warrior. Also, Barr should go digital instead of LP.
Living in NYS, I have the luxury of being able to vote without consequence for a non-Dem/Rep candidate. Still not sure who it will be this year...
Incidentally, this is why I'm not bothered by the racist attitudes toward Obama I've encountered from people upstate. They can be racist all they want, Obama's still getting their electoral votes...
I know, but the rightwing guys around here think you're a Commie Pinko, so you don't count. ;-
It has to be shown over and over again on all the news shows, because only the world's most pathetic losers still watch Saturday Night Live.
*nodding*
What about The Daily Show and The Colbert Report?
But this actually constitutes Andy baiting me, since I said repeatedly that the issue was not that Wright had influenced Obama's political views. And yet, like a broken record, Andy keeps repeating the strawman over and over and over and over and over again.
Hell, who ever said that I didn't enjoy baiting you, David? I cheerfully plead guilty to that.
But whenever I demanded that you provide an actual instance of Wright's influence on Obama's political views, you kept saying that while you couldn't do that, his mere association with Wright was somehow a legitimate issue---which in terms of innuendo is six of one and half a dozen of the other.
I have to agree with kevin. I think the Fey impression not only had an impact, but there's a decent chance we'll see it as a watershed moment in this campaign.
Of course, this seems ridiculous to those who saw Palin as a complete joke from the moment she shared her unique charm, but Fey has made it a national obsession to mock Palin and her followers and few except the zealots are going to want to subject themselves to that.
That said, I'm 100% in favor of it. Her blatant incompetence deserved to be attacked.
you should go back and look at the NYT' editorial of July 84 when she was picked as VP candidate. It basically said "yeah, we know she ain't at all qualified, but it's the party's job to put someone on the ticket who will help get votes, and it represents progress for women, so we like it". A little bit different from this month's take,eh?
Not that I'm arguing for a minute that Palin is qualified, mind you. Just putting the shoe on the other foot.
For months it was
GOP: Obama ain't qualified
DEMS: He's good enuf!
Both sides hypocritical in reverse now.
Yeah, except he can talk and stuff.
GOP: Obama ain't qualified
DEMS: He's good enuf!
Both sides hypocritical in reverse now.
Uh, not even close.
you should go back and look at the NYT' editorial of July 84 when she was picked as VP candidate. It basically said "yeah, we know she ain't at all qualified, but it's the party's job to put someone on the ticket who will help get votes, and it represents progress for women, so we like it". A little bit different from this month's take,eh?
Not that I'm arguing for a minute that Palin is qualified, mind you. Just putting the shoe on the other foot.
For months it was
GOP: Obama ain't qualified
DEMS: He's good enuf!
Both sides hypocritical in reverse now.
Not quite, Tom. First, there were plenty of us back in '84 who saw right through the Ferraro choice, even though she wasn't quite as spectacularly unqualified as Palin, at least not in terms of lack of knowledge of basic subject matter.
And second, that "He's good enuf!" line of argument is completely bogus analogizing. The main criticism of Palin is not her lack of a formal resume, skimpy as that is. It's that she's exhibited not the slightest bit of interest in, or knowledge of, any issues other than those of her own state or the state of women's wombs, which she wants to turn over to the otherwise mocked government. And that doesn't even get into issues of temperament.
All she's proven so far is that she's good at reading someone else's words from a teleprompter, avoiding the media, and feeding red meat to her fan clubs in scripted campaign appearances. The day she can give a coherent answer to a series of logical followup questions without descending into semi-coherent gibberish will be the day that she'll convince anyone other than her fan base and Sir Galahad that she's a serious candidate.
Obama's formal resume isn't exactly overflowing with experience either, but there's also the fact that his views are out there in great detail for anyone to examine, and both his views and his life have been subject to vetting and exposure in the national spotlight for the better part of a year, and approved by tens of millions of voters. Let's just say that his path to the nomination took a little bit more effort than Cinderella's.
Contrast Obama to a woman who ducks the media at every opportunity, and whose electability has been tested in a town of fewer than 10,000 people and one of the smallest statewide populations in the country, and whose proven national constituency to date consists of one John McCain. Only the blindest of low information voters would seriously try to equate the qualifications of these two candidates.
You are just adorable.
Well, seeing as how that was all that had been released by the McCain campaign at the time, that was what people could talk about. Any other discussions would have been met with cries of "damn liberal media!".
Tell me - since her announcement, what other information has come out about her which makes her appear to be a good candidate for the position of VP in terms of either her experience, her qualifications, her actions, or her words?
You are just adorable.
And as relevant to reality as Dow 36000.
Kevin and David, I'd like you each to point out two people of the opposing party whom you admire and think would have made a fine Presidential / Veep Candidates for whom you would have considered voting for in 08.
edit: It does look demented, that's for sure.
Wow, this is the dumbest post in the history of primer. I thank you, as I assume the previous dumbest post in the history of primer was one of any number of mine.
Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar.
There are a few who express views I like on a few issues; for instance, Barney Frank has fought against the criminalization of online gambling on explicitly libertarian grounds. It was exciting to hear him say it, because he didn't oppose the laws on policy grounds or enforceability grounds or whatever; he said that people enjoy gambling and the government ought not to interfere. (He even cited John Stuart Mill.) But it's not a general principle with him; he doesn't apply it across the board.
And as I said, I'm not aware of any Democrats who do. The Democratic worldview is simply antithetical to libertarianism. (If you can point me to someone who is an exception to this, I'd like to hear it. But I think it's telling that when Markos Moulitsas tried to argue for a liberal-libertarian coalition, he couldn't come up with any positive arguments -- only arguments that Republicans are bad for liberty.)
(*) That's not to say that there are no <u>circumstances</u> that would lead me to vote Democratic, but I'd be voting against a specific set of circumstances, not voting for a particular Democrat.
Just for the sake of historical accuracy: Bloomberg is not a Republican. He was a Democrat who temporarily switched to the GOP -- the NYC GOP -- because that was an easier path to the mayor's office, and switched to independent last year.
I know all sorts of liberals, myself included, who would favor a complete decriminalization of gambling, both online and offline, along with a complete abolition of state sponsored gambling. Let the bookies register for a nominal license fee, pay taxes on their profits, and adhere to the sort of standards that 99% of them do anyway (out of self-protection if nothing else), but let the government's involvement begin and end with that. No more funding schools on the profits of suckers. Fund the schools through more conventional forms of taxation. There's an important moral distinction between the government's allowing gambling, and the government's encouragement of it through advertising campaigns that are every bit as sleazy** as any tobacco ads.
**The nadir was reached with a DC Lottery ad that ran on Martin Luther King's birthday in the 90's. It showed a rather stately photograph of King, along with the caption of...
And as I said, I'm not aware of any Democrats who do. The Democratic worldview is simply antithetical to libertarianism.
I'll disagree. They are not big, but there are groups like the Democratic Freedom Caucus which have strong libertarian leanings.
I would think that only a sucker would want to have his money entrusted into the hands of the D.C. school system.
3143... 3143... 3143... have to remember that number because this'll be on page 43 by the time I come back to it.
DC LOTTERY.
Ah, the fine days of Marion Barry. Single-handedly set back civil rights 15 years.
Fortunately not even Marion Barry has quite that much power, but in any event I think that this ad actually ran during the time that Sharon Pratt Kelly was the DC Mayor.
If that ad is the President of Tastelessness, the Vice Presidency would go to one that the Ride On bus system in Montgomery County (MD) ran for at least a decade. It consisted of a larger than life sized picture of the late Princess Diana, mounted on of the bus windows, looking out onto the street. It first appeared no more than a week after she was killed.
The caption of the photo was: "THIS SURE BEATS DRIVING."
I bought Crox at $40. Today it's at $2.50. Where's my bailout?
Re-surfacing here in Rome. I've been to Nice, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Portofino, Siena, and, now, Rome. No internet access in Portofino but I've been monitoring this thread as best I could otherwise.
Just figured out that Andy is now masquerading as "Moscow in the Bleachers." I noticed he had disappeared (and that this Moscow had suddenly appeared) but didn't piece it together. Figured Andy had simply run out of glaucoma drops and couldn't see well enough in the interim to post. Andy - what's the story behind the name change?
Not that I'm arguing for a minute that Palin is qualified, mind you. Just putting the shoe on the other foot.
For months it was
GOP: Obama ain't qualified
DEMS: He's good enuf!
Both sides hypocritical in reverse now.
She didn't get elected either.
Plus, Mondale was 56 at the time--not 72.
For anyone curious, here is that NYTimes editorial.
So, Ray, are you rooting for the Red Sox or for 20 grand?
The key is to be a black man raised by white people.
Obama is "The Jerk" in reverse.
Seeing as how he probably already spent the $20K on his trip, I think I know the answer.
For the next several days I will be a Devil Rays fan (unless the Red Sox want to buy the ticket off of me, to enable me to switch back). This decision is made easier by the fact that the Red Sox have won the World Series twice in the last four years.
I suppose this leaves me open to some sort of anti-fan charge. So be it.
The other politics thread got eated.
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